U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,476 (hereinafter referred to as “the '476 patent,” and the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference) issued Aug. 20, 1996 to Siklosi et al. discloses a home dry-cleaning process. In the process of the '476 patent, a carrier sheet is releasably impregnated with a cleaning composition. The sheet and clothing to be cleaned are sealed in an air-tight bag that is placed in a dryer. As the dryer's drum heats and rotates, the sheet releases the cleaning composition to clean the clothes contained in the bag. The cleaning composition disclosed in the '476 patent includes water, etherfied propanol solvent, 1,2-octanediol, and an emulsifier. The specific requirement to use etherfied propanol solvent is disadvantageous in that there are many types of common garment stains that cannot be cleaned effectively with this substance. In addition, etherfied propanol can remove colors, particularly in garments made of silk. In addition, 1,2-octanediol is not a widely available substance, and the requirement that it be used in the composition of the '476 patent increases the cost of the composition. In addition, all embodiments of the '476 patent disclose water-based compositions in which water constitutes the largest constituent. Although such water-based compositions are effective in removing some types of garment stains, commonly occurring stains such as body or cosmetic oils are not effectively removed with water-based cleaning compositions, and such large amounts of water can remove color from garments.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,587 (hereinafter referred to as “the '587 patent,” and the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference) discloses a composite fabric-cleaning article including a flexible porous base sheet with a coating of a gelled cleaning composition. In a manner similar to the '476 patent, the sheet is placed in an air-tight bag with clothing, which is sealed and placed in a dryer. The composition includes about 60-90% water, about 0.25-5% gelling agent, about 2-32% of a water miscible organic solvent and about 5-10% surfactant. Thus, like the composition of the '476 patent, the composition of the '587 patent is water-based and accordingly relatively ineffective in cleaning garment stains caused by body or cosmetic oils, and such large amounts of water can remove color from some garments.